AN Oldham takeaway owner who spent £4000 modernising his shop has been ordered by the town's planning chiefs to undo all the work because the building is the birthplace of a famous poet. Forty-year-old Mohammed Hussein who owns Prima Pizza in Oldham spent the cash on a new shop front, illuminated signs and tiling on the outside walls.

He did not think he needed planning permission for the changes. To make matters worse, the building on Oldham Road, Failsworth is the birth place of Ben Brierly, the self-taught Oldham poet and author who became famous in his day and even has pubs named after him. Planning officers heard about the work two months after it was completed and told Mr Hussain to submit a retrospective application for planning permission. He did but it was rejected. He now faces spending thousands more to restore his takeaway to its former state.

Mr Hussain says he will appeal against the decision. He said: "I really did not think I needed planning permission as I was just replacing the old with the new. "For example I took down the old shop signs and put up new ones,. They alone cost £1000 and were brighter and focused the attention on the shop. "The outside walls didn't look very nice especially as we got young people using them for graffiti, so I decided to tile them. "If I was to drastically change the building by knocking down walls and building extension of course I would have applied for planning permission - I just did not think I needed it for this work. "I will lose my hard earned money if all this work has to be undone. All I wanted to do was to make the place look nice." Planning officer at Oldham Council, Matthew Lamb said: "This important building is in conservation areas and should be maintained in a certain way to fit in with other nearby buildings. "In this case we have a traditional building of historical importance which has been changed drastically without any planning permission. Buildings in this area are only allowed a traditional frontage which people expect. "People should apply for planning application to avoid situations like this."